New Enclosed Children’s Area & More Coming To New Tampa Regional Library

The New Tampa Regional Library, which opened in 1997, is getting some major renovations, including this glass-enclosed upgrade to the library’s children’s room.

The New Tampa Regional Library (NTRL) on Cross Creek Blvd. opened a little more than 20 years ago, in May 1997. The building has started to show its age, so it’s getting a few updates.

Nearing completion shortly is one big change immediately noticeable to anyone who brings kids to the library. The formerly wide-open building now has an enclosed children’s area. With a mostly glass wall, the space still feels open, but 3,382 square feet of the library is now behind a door and designated specifically for use by children and their families.

“Everyone assumes that the wall was built for noise, and that’s part of it,” says NTRL principal librarian Wendy Prasad, “but it’s also for a safe learning environment, and gives a space for kids to be kids a little more.”

Prasad emphasizes that the library still isn’t a playground for running and horseplay, but, she says, “Modern public libraries are community buildings, and there’s more of a feeling of a shared community space, so we encourage different uses of the library.”

Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library’s manager of library development Chely Cantrell says the newly partitioned space for the library’s youngest patrons makes sense.

“New Tampa has such an amazing community that really supports the library and attends its programs,” Cantrell says. “There’s a large crowd that comes in and attends children’s programming, so now we will have more of a dynamic, interactive area inside of the children’s room.”

The wall is already built, but Cantrell says the finishing touches — including family-friendly furniture and educational materials that enhance early learning — are still on their way.

“We will be bringing in Grandma Claire’s Early Learning Hive,” says Prasad, who explains the library’s system-wide Makerspace is called The Hive. For adults and teens, the focus is on technology.

“For early literacy, we’ll have a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) concept and early learning concepts, but it won’t be technology-based,” says Prasad. “We’ll have early learning blocks and LEGOs, word matching, letters, sensory toys and manipulatives.”

The room is being named “Grandma Claire’s” after a donation from Claire Unnasch, a New Tampa resident who passed away in 2016 and provided a gift of $25,000 towards enhancing the children’s area.

The total budget for the project, including the construction of the wall and also replacing the partition in the community room, is $205,368. The actual final cost will be determined at the project’s completion.

“It’s part of the cultural community shift and where libraries fit into that,” Prasad says.

Modern libraries — including the NTRL — are often adapting to the needs and desires of the people who use them, adding programs, inviting in groups and enhancing the “Maker” options available to the community.

For example, the New Tampa library has added a daily “Teen Zone” for students leaving Benito Middle School, which is located right next door to the library. As many students arrive at NTRL at the same time after school, Prasad and her staff have found ways to make them feel welcome and help them take advantage of the library’s many offerings.

“We open our community room for about an hour and a half every day with video games and other activities,” says Prasad. “We’re here for our community, and that includes everybody.”

Additional construction is planned for 2018. The building is scheduled to have a new roof put on starting in January, during which time it’s expected that the library will remain open during regular business hours, but it may be noisier than usual.

NTRL’s bathrooms also will be upgraded, although the schedule is still being worked out to determine the least possible impact on library patrons.

Hillsborough County To Vote On Fire Deal With Pasco This Week

Hillsborough County Fire Chief Dennis Jones (left) explains to local residents (including Tampa City Councilman Luis Viera) at a recent town hall that Pasco County is likely to provide emergency services to unincorporated New Tampa in the future. (Photo: John C. Cotey)

Hillsborough County has elected to secure the services of nearby Pasco County to provide fire service to the New Tampa communities not located within the city limits of the City of Tampa, pending a vote this week.

“It was the mayor (Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn) who said if we didn’t like it, then go to Pasco,’’ says County Fire Chief Dennis Jones. “So, we went to Pasco.”

The Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) will vote Wednesday whether or not to approve a $275,000 annual contract between Hillsborough and Pasco counties for fire services for residents in Pebble Creek, Live Oak, Cross Creek and other communities located in unincorporated Hillsborough County, such as the Branchton Park area.

The county and the City of Tampa, which has provided fire service  to the unincorporated portion of New Tampa with some combination of Fire Stations Nos. 20, 21 and 22 the past 20 years, are ending a long agreement, after the city said it was raising the cost of its service to unincorporated New Tampa from $218,000 to $1.4 million per year.

Pasco’s Board of County Commissioners (BCC) voted to approve the deal on Nov. 28.

“I’m 100 percent for it,’’ said Pasco BCC chair Mike Moore, who represents most of Wesley Chapel in District 2, prior to the vote. “It’s a wash for us. We’re not making a ton of money off it, but we’re being good neighbors.”

Under the new agreement, unincorporated areas of New Tampa will primarily be serviced by Pasco County Fire Rescue Station No. 26, located in the nearby Meadow Pointe I community of Wesley Chapel.

The station is roughly 1.6 miles from the entrance to Live Oak Preserve, 1.9 miles to the entrance to the Pebble Creek Golf Club, 2.5 miles to the intersection of Cross Creek Blvd. and Bruce B. Downs (BBD) Blvd., and about 5 miles from the Kinnan St. area.

“Most communities in the unincorporated area are closer to the Pasco county fire station,’’ Chief Jones explained to a crowd at a recent New Tampa town hall (see page 6). “(Station 26) has a fire engine, rescue car and paramedic service.”

The contract is with the county, Jones said, not with just the one fire station, so other stations would also be available if needed. For example, Pasco County has Fire Rescue Station 13 in Quail Hollow, which is 7.9 miles from Live Oak Preserve, Fire Rescue Station No. 16 in Zephyrhills, which is located roughly 10.7 miles from the easternmost part of the unincorporated area, and No. 23 in Lutz, which is about the same distance from the westernmost areas.

Also, Jones added, Pasco and the City of Tampa have a mutual aid agreement. If Pasco is not available for a call, it would call Tampa for mutual aid, meaning Tampa Fire Rescue No. 21 or No. 22 (both on Cross Creek Blvd.) would provide the service.

Chief Jones also promised residents at that town hall meeting that their service would not stop, nor would they be responsible for any additional assessments.

The prospect of being serviced by a fire rescue station further away than TFR Station Nos. 21 and 22 didn’t sit well with some unincorporated New Tampa residents.

“We’re going to wait for Pasco to respond from County Line Road?,’’ asked Pebble Creek resident Craig Lewis at the town hall. “For Pasco to come down Bruce B. Downs Blvd. in that traffic? You expect us to get fire service that far away when we have two engines within a mile of my house? That is absolutely ludicrous, and is not acceptable.”

Jones said other options for a local Hillsborough County unit staged from a modular building were explored, but all of them cost more than Pasco County’s services.

“We don’t have an option, so our option is the next closest and make a deal with (Pasco),’’ Jones said.

Lewis suggested that the baseball fields on Kinnan St. be moved to Branchton Park (on Morris Bridge Rd), and replaced with a fire station to service the unincorporated communities of New Tampa.

The nearest Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Station is the University Area Station No. 5 on E. 139th Ave.

Hillsborough County District 5 commissioner Ken Hagan said at the town hall that he was hopeful residents wouldn’t notice any changes in their emergency services.

“We’re doing everything to ensure seamless service,” Hagan said. “We won’t let anything happen that will reduce the level of service you get out here, you have my word on that.”

WCCC Again Fetes Excellence In Business!

Kent and Cindy Ross of RP&G Printing, winners of the top Small Business.

Oh, what a night! Congratulations go out to the Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC), which held its annual “Celebrating Excellence in Business” awards gala on Nov. 9 at the Hilton Garden Inn off S.R. 54 near the Suncoast Pkwy.

The event had an even bigger buzz than usual and the well-dressed crowd of 180 people certainly enjoyed the food, beverages and festivities for the evening.

Bob Thompson of Thompson Brand Images was again the emcee for the evening, which again included awards for Small & Large Business of the Year, Business Leader of the Year and Volunteer of the Year.

New awards this year included the New Business of the Year, the Dorothy Mitchell Lifetime Achievement award and a Community Hero award.

The Volunteer of the Year was Chamber Ambassador Cindy Ross of RP&G Printing and Cindy and her husband, Rotary Club of Wesley Chapel Noon president Kent Ross, also won the Small Business honors.

The New Business winner was James Serrano of Pinot’s Palette.

Denyse Bales-Chubb, left

This year’s Business Leader award winner was Denyse Bales-Chubb, the CEO of FHWC. (Note: We incorrectly reported this in the most recent issues of the Neighborhood News. Our apologies.).

The Large Business of the Year was Morton Plant North Bay Hospital in New Port Richey.

Long-time West Pasco volunteer Bob Memoli won the award named for the late former 20-year Pasco County School Board member Dorothy Mitchell, whose family’s ranch land would become the Trinity area of New Port Richey.

Both the Large Business and Mitchell award winners were nods to the WCCC’s 2017 merger with/asset acquisition of the Greater Pasco Chamber of Commerce, which has been serving West Pasco.

The community hero award went to Pasco County District 2 Commissioner and Wesley Chapel resident Mike Moore for his herculean efforts to help local residents following Hurricane Irma. 

Again, it was a truly amazing night. Can’t wait until next year! — GN; photos by Stephen John Photography (see ad on pg. 46)

Wesley Chapel Survivor Helping Other Young Adults Cope With Cancer

Rachell Moodie, pictured above with her husband, Matt, and two daughters, Hannah and Madelyn. Rachell was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 24 (below) and now helps other young adults fighting cancer & their families.

Picture a cancer patient.

Chances are, you’re thinking of an older adult, or maybe a child.

It’s not likely that you think of a young adult, but that’s where Wesley Chapel resident Rachell Moodie found herself in 2009, at the age of 24.

She had been married just nine months when she got the diagnosis — breast cancer. She went through 17 weeks of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy.

“People know older adults get cancer and kids get cancer, but there’s this other subset of people,” Rachell says. “People wondered if I went crazy and shaved my head. No one thought I had cancer because it’s outside of the realm of what people expect.”

She says that although she had the support of her family and community, she wanted to connect with other people like her. Even her doctors usually treated patients in different life stages. So, for example, even though her doctors didn’t tell her that the cancer treatment could make her infertile, it did cross her mind.

“I knew I wanted to be a mom,” she says. “So I asked my doctor to let me figure out this fertility thing.”

She was able to have her eggs harvested, starting the process for IVF (in-vitro fertilization). That’s just one reason she’s now passionate about helping other young women who are facing cancer. “If you’ve already gone through chemotherapy,” Rachell says, “it’s too late.”

Rachell has now been cancer-free for eight years. “After going through that journey, I felt like I was on a mission to go through this with other people,” she says, adding that she wants to help others with all of the things she was so clueless about — from the unexpected side effects of chemo, to how to pick out a wig, etc.

A couple of years ago, Rachell met Madison Miller, another young adult cancer survivor, who had created a nonprofit organization for the young adult cancer community, called Spark The Way.

The two were both speaking at an event at the Moffitt Cancer Center on USF’s Tampa campus and recognized their mutual passion. In fact, they both say they instantly believed they would be lifelong friends.

“We just hit it off,” says Madison. “Rachell has such a passion for young adults in the cancer community, so I invited her to join me in Spark The Way.”

Madison was diagnosed with lymphoma in 2013, the same week she lost her grandpa to the same disease.

“He had fought with faith and fought fearlessly,” Madison says. “It was like he unknowingly equipped me to be able to fight.”

Madison says the most important lesson she watched was that her grandfather let people in. “Everyone was always going to treatments with him,” she says. “It was always a ‘we’ thing.”

So, while Madison says many young adults want to push people away when they struggle, even with cancer, “community is everything when you’re going through it.”

Through Spark the Way, Madison and Rachell — along with other “mentors” — make themselves available to cancer fighters, survivors and caregivers.

They’ll talk on the phone, chat online, meet for coffee, or come by a hospital room — whatever they can do to meet the needs of someone who is fighting cancer and would benefit from a listening ear and comforting words from someone who has been there before.

“Friends and family want to support you, but they just don’t get it,” says Rachell. “To have someone who’s been there and can say, ‘I know exactly how you’re feeling and this is how we can face this,’ is so helpful.”

That dream that Rachell once had to be a mom? She’s happy to say it has now come true.

She had to wait until she was five years cancer-free, and then Rachell became pregnant via IVF.

“Madelyn, who’s three, is my daily reminder that God keeps his promises, and you can hold on to hope because there is life after cancer,” she says.

Then, there’s Hannah, who’s now one-and-a-half.

“Right before Madelyn’s first birthday, I became pregnant naturally, so Hannah’s my reminder that God’s bigger than anyone else and He’ll make His plan happen,” Rachell says.

To learn more about Spark the Way or to request a phone call or other contact from Rachell or another young adult cancer mentor, visit SparkTheWay.org or email yourfriends@sparktheway.org.

Taste of New Tampa Sets Date For 2018!

Even though the 2017 Taste of New Tampa at Florida Hospital Center Ice earlier this year didn’t raise the most money ever for a Taste, it was a hugely successful event that attracted around 2,000 people to Florida Hospital Center Ice (FHCI).

The way I see it, the 2017 Taste, sponsored by the Rotary Club of New Tampa (which meets Fridays at 7 a.m. at Tampa Palms Golf & Country Club) was an amazing event that fell short of its nonprofit-organization-benefiting fund-raising goals because of two main reasons — 1) not enough sponsorships and 2) people’s concerns about the event being held indoors, especially in a venue that we all assumed would feel a whole lot colder than it did on that fun Saturday in March (photo).

Well, considering that I have attended and/or been part of the committee putting on 20 of the first 21 Tastes, I can tell you that FHCI is by far the best venue we’ve ever had for the event — a fact that I believe most of this year’s attendees would agree with — even though there are quite a few things we learned we could do better next time.

The first organizational meeting for the 2018 Taste will be held later this month and New Tampa Rotary president and Taste event chair Karen Frashier says that once the Taste 2018 committee chairs have met, we will be looking for additional volunteers. We’re not interested in people hoping to pad their “community resumes,” but folks who are willing to roll up their sleeves and actually work to help make the 2018 Taste — which will be held on Sunday, March 25, noon-5 p.m., at FHCI — even bigger and better than this year’s event.

“(FHCI’s) Gordie Zimmerman and George Mitchell have been amazing to work with,” Frashier says. “And, they were really happy with the quality of the sponsors, the food and beverage providers and the people who attended. We’re all looking forward to next year!”

To that end, the Rotary Club already is pre-selling Taste tickets at a 20-percent discount through Feb. 1 at TasteofNewTampa.org!

And of course, look for Taste 2018 updates in just about every issue of New Tampa & Wesley Chapel Neighborhood News, at NTNeighborhoodNews.com, on the “Neighborhood News” page on Facebook and on WCNT-tv’s YouTube channel!

Speaking Of WCNT-tv…

By the time you read this, WCNT-TV (Wesley Chapel & New Tampa Television) will likely have surpassed my first two goals.

I created WCNT-tv with a partner back in June of 2016 and in the 17 months since then, I have produced and “aired” about 100 segments, including more than 30 WCNT-tv “News Desks” with yours truly and Susanna Martinez as the co-hosts, and two dozen Greater Wesley Chapel Chamber of Commerce (WCCC) Featured Business segments with host Mollyana Ward, who also has hosted our first four “Today’s Fashion Focus” segments featuring Sarah Rasheid of the Tampa Premium Outlets (TPO).

WCNT-tv also has featured exclusive interview segments, slide videos featuring everything from Pasco County animal shelter dogs to Zammy the Sheepadoodle visiting Tampa’s  Shriners Hospital for Children, and from the Wesley Chapel Jazz Festival to the “Symphony in Lights” at the Shops at Wiregrass.

My initial goal for WCNT-tv was to have the show reach one million people on Facebook and a combined viewership of 500,000 on YouTube and Facebook.

And yes, at our press time for this issue, we have inched ever closer to both of those numbers, as all WCNT-tv segments combined to date have now reached 983,000+ people on Facebook and have been viewed nearly 470,,000 times on YouTube and Facebook (combined), including nearly 340,000 views on Facebook and nearly 130,000 views on YouTube.

I promised to throw another WCNT-tv party — this time for the general public — when we reached those milestones, so look for that announcement very soon.

And, just in time (we hope) for businesses looking to increase their exposure among the residents of New Tampa and Wesley Chapel, our new 2018 Media Kit, which gives you discounts for advertising in the Neighborhood News, on WCNT-tv and on NTNeighborhoodNews.com, is now available on our website, social media and by calling our advertising sales rep, Tom Damico, at (813) 910-2575.

And, Finally…

My page 3 editorial last issue had the desired effect — it’s gotten people talking about what I believe is the much-needed connection of Kinnan St. in New Tampa to Mansfield Blvd. in Wesley Chapel.

Some in Meadow Pointe II have told me I have no right to be voicing my opinion because I don’t live there, but most (including a few Meadow Pointe residents) have told me to keep fighting the good fight on this topic.

I’ll give you three guesses as to which option I’m going to choose.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.